How common is the "Co-Captain" in the Corporate world?

[semperfido]

We actually had a guy who felt pride in that "Vice President" title....I once told him on a crew swap in Athens at 0400.... "Hey Mr. VP of Lav Dumping, here's a $20, go monitor the $hitter change"

another personal favorite..."Director of Training"...(calls FlightSafety twice a year)

Only pilots.

My last gig, the VP manager pilot never got any closer than 100 feet of the aircraft. My newer gig, a maint tech does the same job. Go figure.

 

[sleepy]

We have Captains and Senior Captains. The difference is a Captain gets a 10% bonus and a Senior Captain gets a 30% bonus. It takes 8 years as a Captain to become a Senior Captain. You don't have to be a good pilot, smart or even alert; you just have to have a pulse and it happens automatically after 8 years. The Senior Captains got the rules changed so they would always be the trip Captain. The Trip Captain has to do all of the paperwork and gets blamed for everything that goes wrong during a trip.

The rule quietly disappeared after a few months........

 

[carl p]

We have Captains and Senior Captains. The difference is a Captain gets a 10% bonus and a Senior Captain gets a 30% bonus. It takes 8 years as a Captain to become a Senior Captain. You don't have to be a good pilot, smart or even alert; you just have to have a pulse and it happens automatically after 8 years. The Senior Captains got the rules changed so they would always be the trip Captain. The Trip Captain has to do all of the paperwork and gets blamed for everything that goes wrong during a trip.

The rule quietly disappeared after a few months........

What a surprise, lol.

 

[Quimby]

My last gig, the VP manager pilot never got any closer than 100 feet of the aircraft. My newer gig, a maint tech does the same job. Go figure.

That's plenty close for some pilots. Some just belong in an office from 9-4, talking about how good they are.

 

[ultrarunner]

G200 nailed it. It's all about ego.

Co-captain, Captain, Senior Captain, Senior Co-Captain, International Captain, International Co-Captain....blah blah blah...

Oh and my favorite as G200 pointed out: "Senior International Training Captian". Who'd have thought I'd get a new title if I can successfully teach someone the finer points of a Toronto turn, vs. a Teterboro turn. Wahooo!!!!

haha....gotta love it.

The airlines go it right...two folks show up and you got a Captain and a First Officer.

But then those two folks aren't worried about getting their peckers stroked when they come into the office!

All all you TEB crews, chime in here with your own title variations....!!!

 

[jet2work]

I agree that it is mostly about ego, but........

In a large Fortune 500 company, your salary and benefits are often determined by someone with absolutely no aviation experience at all. Out of 30,000 employees, there may be 6 pilots. This presents difficulty for an HR apparatus trying to figure out what is appropriate compensation. They (being HR) consult with consultants and order surveys that try to neatly summarize job tiltles and responsibilities.

Depending on how savvy your HR folks are, you could have them attempting to pay you the Regional Jet FO pay if your title is Co-Pilot . After all, they are a Co-Pilot on a turbojet powered aircraft (same job description as you). Have you ever seen first year FO pay even at a major (not that they have hired anyone in a long time). Pretty poor.

A proactive Flight Department manager will school HR a little and maybe show them a Stanton Salary Survey or Conklin DeDecker report. I have heard from many a Dept. Manager that surveys from Pro Pilot or NBAA hold no sway with HR, because it is pilots reporting salaries and not HR.

Unfortunately, when your boss goes to HR and tells them that they need to re-evaluate compensation, they will say. Has anyone quit lately? If the answer is no, then in HR's eyes there is not a problem and no need to do additional work in that area. I know it doesn't sound very progressive, but imagine the FAA promulgating a new rule for an issue that has never caused an accident. How seriously would you take it?

Is it cost effective to recruit, train, relocate a new employee? Of course not. In this market, do any of us have the leverage to demand more money or threaten to leave? Very few of us.

Hopefully anyone who calls him or herself a "Captain" actually posseses the skills to dutifully carry out that role without regard to which seat they are occupying and the qualifications of the person sitting next to them. Hopefully the people in your HR department are just as competent at their jobs. Lets make both of our lives easier by assigning a title that allows them to accurately detemine fair comensation for us.

That being said, if anyone out there is willing to pay $200K a year for a weak FO, I am available immediately.

 

[2000Easyguy]

Overseas is where they really get wrapped around the axels about "Captain" and "Co-pilot". Never understood that.

True. In various countries I've heard the terms "Commander, Commandante (Spain), Skipper, and Conductor of flight". With that last title, I wanted to hang my head out the cabin door, blow a whistle, and yell "All aboooard!"

Now, with the next round of business cards, I'm going to fill in the title "Assistant to the Regional Flight director". A play on Dwight Shrewt from "The Office".

I'm with the rest of you, call me what you want, but pay me a fair salary!:beer:

 

[NCherches]

"Co-captain" sounds like flight department marketing semantics aimed at soothing nervous new charter customers...

Or for a Copilot to feel like he is cool.... ''ok you can wear four stripes since you are typed in the airplane''

 

[semperfido]

All all you TEB crews, chime in here with your own title variations....!!!

Senior Chief Pilot comes to mind.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

Senior Chief Pilot comes to mind.

Thats a good one....

Senior Chief International Training Gulfstream Captain.

Now thats what I need.